What is procrastination?
Mariam Webster defines it as “to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done.” A more insidious and subtle definition would be the trouble “of persuading yourself to do the things you should do or would like to do” (procrastination.com). Procrastination is like a boxing match between two sides of your head as one side tries to punch its way through to get things done, as the other and more stubborn side continually resists and dodges all attacks. The opponent of Procrastination never gets tired, so if one cannot defeat it then they will continue to be beat into comfortable submission. Grade schoolers not wanting to finish their weekly homework packet, an employee playing angry birds on their phone during their shift, or even corporate businessmen stacking meetings atop of each other at the end of the week are all examples of procrastination. Procrastination attacks every level of society — without knowing how to deal with it, society will have trouble progressing.
Procrastination can be broken down into three main categories: Habitual, Anxious, and Intentional.
Habitual procrastination is a variation of procrastination that is embedded into our minds. To paint a picture of this kind of practice, let’s say Joe was to meet up with some friends at 4:00, and he comes at around 4:15 or 4:30 without it being in his control. He is late to the meetup and tries to tell himself that he won’t be late next time. When next time comes around and the friends decide to meet again at 4:00, Joe unintentionally comes and meets up again at 4:15 or 4:30 being late again. These small incidents can lead to bigger incidents such as being late to a rehearsal, missing a meeting for a club gathering, or even trekking home past curfew. One of the reasons people become habitually late is because they have poor time management skills (to read more about time management, check out this link). These irregular practices and routines build up atop one another resulting in an inability to be consistent. As one builds a habit of becoming late, that habit can greatly detriment the person’s career and reputation in the future with it being out of their own control.
Anxious procrastination is a type of procrastination where one doesn’t know where to begin with their work or tasks. When one is feeling stressed or overwhelmed, it can be extremely difficult for them to find a motivation to start or complete work and/or activities, so they just put them off to the side. In fact this is one of the most common forms of procrastination: a survey of around 20 Branham High School students found that about 44.7% of students mainly procrastinated due to anxiety issues. When teenagers come home from school after a long day, they feel stressed and unmotivated in themselves to complete any work. Even if they sit down in front of their work with a pencil in hand and no distractions, their mind is still thinking about other things which impedes their ability to actually focus, understand, and complete their work. This eventually gets to the point where they cannot even think straight, so they would rather rely on doing something that they would find helpful to reducing anxiety. Most “anti-anxiety” activities are simply recreational activities, like watching TV shows, playing video games, or talking to other people. Procrastination caused by anxiety is the most difficult kind of procrastination to overcome due to those individuals possessing a lingering sense of disapproval or failure out of their work (Cuncic). Anxious procrastination makes having a fun time seem much more worthwhile than putting effort into actual work.
When there are things to be done, procrastination is fun. Intentional procrastination is the poorest kind of procrastination to practice, as individuals themselves are making the decision to procrastinate while they have the opportunity to finish or work on the task at hand. A simple example of intentional procrastination is that I get assigned homework on Monday that is due Friday. I decided to put off the homework until Thursday 11 P.M, leaving me with a workload due in 9 hours. My decision of putting off homework until Thursday night will cost me greatly because I will not have time to sleep, impacting my mental health. One’s refusal to complete their tasks could result in an overpowering and unhealthy amount of workload, which usually manifests itself as students complaining about too much homework. This can further tie into developing the other forms of procrastination including anxious procrastination, which then develops into a habitual procrastination. Procrastination begins with the choice to pursue it. Being late on accident and then making no change for the next time is that person’s own fault. Only a person themselves can decide whether or not to procrastinate and go down the complex maze of it.
Excuses which aren’t procrastination
Laziness is not procrastination. Procrastination is not people portraying laziness, laziness is just simply being lazy. A relevant example from procrastination.com depicts a prime example of the differences of procrastination and laziness: “Lazy people, simply don’t do anything and are just fine with it. Procrastinators, on the other hand, have the desire to actually do something but can’t force themselves to start.” Laziness is putting something off to the side and being completely carefree about it with no worries. Contrary, procrastination always has people thinking about something, however, they cannot find the drive or motivation to jump start themselves to that task.
Relaxation is not procrastination. One who is choosing to lay back and relax instead of doing their work isn’t correlated with procrastination. Relaxation and procrastination are two different worlds as Relaxing recharges you with energy, as in stark contrast, procrastination drains it from you (procrastination.com). Getting things done and feeling good about it afterwards is relaxation, however, not getting things done while laying aside doing nothing is a ludicrous idea of ‘relaxation.’ For example, if you do all of your work and then watch a movie after, you are recharging your energy. If you watch movies all day instead of doing the work you know you need to do, you are depleting your energy.
Why we procrastinate
Procrastination rates are extreme within most teens with close to 86% of teens procrastinating during their high school years (Think you Procrastinate Now). So what’s the root of the matter? It’s all because of one main reason: Procrastination makes us feel better, and gives us a false sense of security (Procrastination.com). Procrastination confuses people as to what is and what is not a priority in their lives; the idea of being temporarily “free” from work and tasks gives humans a sense that they are okay, and that they have time to relax and enjoy themselves. People also procrastinate when they have more time. The more time that individuals have, the more time that they have freedom to waste, which is a cause of poor time management. The false logic here is that they are “maximizing” their time spent relaxing while eventually getting their work done, even if the work is not of the best quality. Whether the deadline is a day or a week or a month, many procrastinators wait until they can no longer ignore the feeling of dread that comes with a deadline to finally start working.
These points expose the motivator of procrastination: fear of failing. Fear of failure is a sensitive subject and can be associated with “certain personality traits, such as low self-esteem and low self-confidence” which tie into the main idea of procrastination (Solving Procrastination). This is why some people procrastinate — so that they can say, “Oh, I didn’t spend that much time on this, it’s probably bad,” in order to dodge criticism by hiding behind the veil of “this isn’t my best work.” In addition to being detrimental to quality of work, this creates a negative feedback loop of not doing work due to fear of failure, and then being too stressed out to do work later. A chemical within the brain called norepinephrine increase fear and anxiety and can lead people to encrypt the thought of failure inside their head (Duvauchelle). As a result, it isn’t easy to ignore these subjects, and they are certainly not easy to embrace and overcome. However, being aware of the problem is the first step to finding the solution.
How procrastination impacts our lives:
These 7 impacts of procrastination have been slightly discussed throughout the majority of the article:
- Time will be wasted
- Opportunities will be missed
- Goals won’t be reached
- Careers will be hindered
- Self-esteem is lowered
- Poor decisions will be made
- Reputations will be damaged
However, an important impact of procrastination that hasn’t been addressed yet is health.
Physical and mental health is the most important thing when it comes to maintaining an efficient and happy lifestyle. Tying in with anxious procrastination, one’s health can easily be negatively impacted through repeated instances of procrastinating. According to the article “8 Dreadfull Effects of Procrastination that can Destroy your Life,” author Kristin O’Donovan explains that, “Studies show us more and more how damaging stress and anxiety are for us, with stress being the silent killer.” In addition to mental strain, people who stay up late to finish work they procrastinated on are prone to a multitude of other sleep-disorder-related ailments. Health comes first, so making efforts to defeat procrastination should be a priority in everyone’s lives.
How we can reduce and overcome procrastination:
Procrastination isn’t something that people can get rid of, like a cold or strep throat. As long as people have things to do, procrastination is always a problem that they will have to deal with. Fortunately, there are many ways to deal with procrastination that attack the causes and inspire action. While implementing every solution on the internet might kill procrastination, it might not be the most efficient. Therefore, it is better to find the best solution for oneself based on their types of procrastination.
To Do/Habit List
Creating a dedicated schedule and positive habits can greatly improve one’s organization skills and help reduce procrastination. Through following a dedicated schedule, one’s body gets used to repeating and carrying it out, leading to a less stressful lifestyle and thought process. The To-Do method also ties into this as making a list of goals that one needs to accomplish which may be broken down into priorities. Overall, a person holding themselves to an accurate and bold schedule is essential to cracking down on procrastination, otherwise habits will slowly start to decline. Writing down this schedule on a piece of paper will also help one get to “know” the schedule. While making a To
Self-Assessment
Self-Assessment is a good way to check up on yourself to make sure that you are holding yourself to a high standard and not slacking off. This can tie in with maintaining certain habits and practices to reduce procrastination, as checking yourself and reminding yourself that you have to hold yourself accountable to high standards is very important to reducing procrastination. It is also important to understand and confront that procrastination is present in a person’s life, and they need to stand up to it themselves and address these problems so that the benefit of reduced procrastination can be present in that person’s future. Self-Assessments can also include a weekly checkup at the end of the week for example to see how poor or well a person did with procrastination that week, and see where improvements can be made. Keeping a journal and noting down what you do throughout the week is also beneficial, and you can check up on yourself and see how you did on your goals, and what you need to think about and improve on in the following weeks. With the journal it is also extremely important to schedule some time to relax within the week after you completed all of your weekly goals and desires.
Commit
Commitment. It’s the single most important thing to overcome and reduce procrastination. The amount of time and effort that one puts in towards reducing procrastination determines how far that individual will get by doing so. Setting goals is extremely important towards the commitment aspect, as setting that goal will drive and motivate an individual to work harder towards the ultimate goal of reducing procrastination. When one commits and works fully fledged to reduce procrastination, the effects can come with much prosperity as that individual will most likely have reduced their procrastination. It is definitely not easy to make these commitments and goals but in the long run, it is extremely worth it to keep yourself to a desired standard in order to achieve that ultimate goal. In addition to commitment, it is also very important to talk to others such as family members and/or close friends to get to hold you accountable to your goals. The feeling of having someone watching alongside you and keeping you going can make a huge difference in self-esteem and motivation. With greater motivation comes a result of more work being accomplished, which further results in a happier and healthier lifestyle.
Conclusion
The result of all of these methods of reducing procrastination is a happier and healthier lifestyle where a person can work efficiently, effectively, and calmly. Procrastination is another whole language itself, it’s not easy to overcome, but it will be so worth it in the long run.
Thank you for reading this article, I hope you enjoyed my analysis and explanations on different aspects of procrastination. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!
Sources
“8 Steps to End Procrastination.” Skip Prichard | Leadership Insights, 4 Mar. 2017, www.skipprichard.com/9-steps-to-end-procrastination/.
Cuncic, Arlin. “Tips for Dealing With Procrastination When You Have Social Anxiety.” Verywell Mind, 30 Sept. 2019, www.verywellmind.com/procrastination-and-social-anxiety-disorder-3973931.
Duvauchelle, Denis. “Brain Freeze: The Science of Procrastination (And How to Fight Back).” The Next Web, 27 Mar. 2014, thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2014/03/27/brain-freeze-science-procrastination-smart-brains/#:~:text=Procrastinators%20prefer%20people%20to%20think,less%20ability%20to%20do%20something.&text=The%20norepinephrine%20chemical%20takes%20over,Adrenalin%20gets%20pumped%20in.
O´Donovan, Kirstin. “8 Dreadful Effects of Procrastination That Can Destroy Your Life.” Lifehack, Lifehack, 26 June 2019, www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/8-ways-procrastination-can-destroy-your-life.html#:~:text=Procrastination%20is%20linked%20to%20mental,are%20linked%20to%20health%20issues.&text=If%20you%20procrastinate%20too%20much,people%20or%20things%20are%20involved.
“Procrastination.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/procrastination.
Schicker, Petr Ludwig & Adela. “What Is PROCRASTINATION and How Can You Overcome It?” Procrastination.com — Stop Procrastinating, Start Living, Procrastination.com, 12 July 2019, procrastination.com/what-is-procrastination.
Solving Procrastination, solvingprocrastination.com/why-people-procrastinate/#:~:text=People%20often%20procrastinate%20because%20they,that%20they%20need%20to%20complete.&text=Furthermore%2C%20certain%20personality%20traits%2C%20such,traits%20more%20likely%20to%20procrastinate.
“Think You Procrastinate Now? Wait ’Til You Get to College!” Magoosh Blog | High School, 15 Apr. 2015, magoosh.com/hs/college-admissions/college-life/2014/think-you-procrastinate-now-wait-til-you-get-to-college/#:~:text=Procrastination%20is%20widespread.,up%20slightly%20to%2088%20percent.
